Self-lifting sadirons



Nov. 13, 1956 G. A. BRACE SELF-LIFTING SADIRONS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 5, 1953 Fig. 2

INVENTOR. George .4. Bruce BY W ATTORNEY.

Nov. 13, 1956 G. A. BRACE SELF-LIF'IING SADIRONS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 5, 1953 mvmon. George A. Brqce BY W ATTORNEY.

United States Patent SELF-LIFTING SADIRGNS George A. Brace, Highland Park, 111., assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application August 5, 1953, Serial No. 372,510

6 Claims. (Cl. 3879) This invention relates to sadirons and more particularly to a unique and simplified self-lifting support therefor.

The invention bears many points of similarity with a self-lifting mechanism for sadirons disclosed in my copending application for Letters Patent, Serial No. 234,234, filed June 29, 1951, now Patent No. 2,713,224, dated July 19, 195 5, but represents certain improvements thereover. For example, one of the distinguishing features of the present construction resides in the fact that the rest mechanism is a simple, unitary device which fits into a suitably designed cavity of the iron without requiring any additional means for holding the mechanism assembled. Furthermore, the mechanism is so designed that it is retractable to its fully collapsed position solely in response to downward pressure on the iron itself.

My novel rest mechanism consists of two principal parts which cooperate with one another and with the iron structure to form a snap action device normally housed within the confines of the iron when in its retracted position and operable to lift the iron oh" the supporting surface and support it there when moved past its neutral position. One of the principal parts is a floating spring so constructed and arranged that it holds the rest member properly retracted and seated within its enclosing housing when on one side of its neutral position and is effective to lift the iron onto the rest member when the spring lies slightly to the other side of its neutral position.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a sadiron having a simple and unique lifting mechanism for supporting the sole plate off the ironing surface when the iron is not in use.

Another object is the provision of a snap action rest mechanism having a stable retracted position and a stable extended iron supporting position which is inexpensive, rugged, simple to operate and highly efiective.

A further object is the provision of a rest mechanism having a snap action actuating spring arranged to be assembled to the iron proper without the use of pins, screws or other assembly fasteners.

Yet another object is the provision of a sadiron having two principal sub-assemblies one of which includes the sole plate and temperature regulator while the other comprises the handle cover shelf and supporting mechanism together with a single means for holding the two subassemblies together.

Another object is the provision of a self-lifting iron having a rest and a snap-action spring actuator therefor so arranged that the rest can be released to its iron lifting position by manually moving either or both said rest and said actuator past the neutral position of these elements.

Still another obiect is the provision of a collapsible rest mechanism for a sadiron which automatically retracts to a position out of contact with the ironing surface in response to the return of the iron to its ironing position and without the necessity of an additional manipulative operation on the part of the operator.

Patented Nov. 13, 1956 ice Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings of illustrative embodiments of the invention, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view partly in section of an iron incorporating one embodiment of the invention and showing the lifting mechanism in its retracted position;

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the rest in its extended position with the sole plate supported out of contact with the ironing surface;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing a second embodiment of the invention;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 44 on Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing the rest of the second embodiment in its extended position.

Referring first to Figures 1 and 2 showing one preferred embodiment, it will be seen that the invention is incorporated in a conventional type electric sadiron having a sole plate 10 provided with a U-shaped embedded electric heating element 11. Overlying the sole plate is a stamped sheet metal cover shell 12 the rear end 13 of which extends beyond the heel of the sole plate. A removable terminal access cover 14 forms a closure for the exposed lower side of extension 13. This cover is preferably out of direct heat exchange contact with the sole plate so that it remains relatively cool during the operation of the iron. A one piece molded handle 15 formed of heat insulating material is provided with a rear leg 16 and a front leg 17 the lower ends of which terminate in closely spaced relation to the top side of the cover shell to avoid overheating of the handle. Any suitable type of thermostatic temperature regulator generally designated 18 is secured to the mid-portion of the sole plate and is provided with a shaft 19 projecting through an enlarged hole in the cover shell. The thermostat may be adjusted to control the temperature of the iron by means of a large diameter dial 20 having a friction coupling with the upper end of shaft 19.

The toe and the heel corners of the sole plate are preferably provided with bosses 21 against which the rim of the cover shell seats when it is in assembled position. A single stud bolt 22 passes through an opening in the top of the cover shell at a point underlying dial 20 and is threadedly received by the sole plate for the purpose of holding the cover and handle sub-assembly in place on the sole plate. The handle is secured to the cover plate by screws 23 extending upwardly from the underside thereof into the front and rear legs, respectively, in accordance with conventional practice. It will, of course, be understood that the handle is assembled to the cover shell by screws 23 and together with the retractable rest mechanism constitutes one of the principal sub-assemblies while the sole plate and the thermostatic regulator constitute the second sub-assembly.

The iron supporting and lifting mechanism comprises a rod-like strut or rest 24 arranged for reciprocal movement in a cavity 25 of the front handle leg and through an opening 26 extending through the sole plate. The free movement of the rest member along guideway 25 and through opening 26 may be facilitated by a roller 27 carried in a slot passing through the upper end of the rest member. The actuating means for the rest comprises a specially shaped torsion spring generally designated 28 and formed in two symmetrical halves located on either side of the rest as will be best understood by reference to Figure 4. The spring actuator 28 is preferably made from a single piece of spring wire although it may consist of two identical coil springs. In either event, one end 29 of each half of the actuator is connected to rest 24 while the other end of each half is formed to seat in a forwardly opening notch 31 of cavity 25. If the spring is made in one piece as preferred, the free ends terminate at 30 on the opposite sides of rest 24 in the forwardly opening notch or recess 31 of cavity 25.

From Figure 1, it will be noted that ends 29 lie in a plane slightly above the horizontal center line of notch 31 when the rest member is fully retracted. Also note that the coil portion of the spring actuator is then positioned forwardly of the rest member. When in this position, the opposite ends 29 and 30 of the springs are so related as to urge the rest member upwardly. If the plunger is moved downwardly slightly, end 29 of the actuator will be on the same plane as end 30 and the actuator will be ineifective to urge the plunger in either direction. This is aptly termed the neutral position of the mechanism. It will also be evident that, as the rest moves downwardly to its neutral position, the coil portions of the actuator shift counterclockwise until the axis of the coil lies in the same vertical plane as the center line of rest member 24.

If the rest is now depressed slightly below the neutral position, the coil portion of the actuator will shift further to the right as end 29 moves to a position below a horizontal plane through notch 31. Since ends 29 and 30 are urged apart by the stresses stored in the torsion spring, the lower end of the rest will abut the ironing board and stop. However, the spring will continue to expand and, in so doing, will be effective through end 30 and notch 31 to elevate the iron to the inclined position show in Figure 2. As it rises, roller 27 will roll along passage 25 and cooperate with opening 26 in the sole plate to guide the iron in its upward movement.

Note that the forward side of roller 27 rolls along the front wall of cavity 25 whereas the rear side of the roller rides along a leaf spring 32 having its lower end anchored between the handle and the cover shell by means of assembly screw 23. The upper end 33 of this spring is shaped to ride under roller 27 and automatically elevate it togther with rest 24 during the collapsing movement of t the rest to its retracted position.

The ease with which the construction just described is assembled will be quite apparent from the foregoing. In the assembly of the rest mechanism the actuator spring is first assembled to the opposite sides of plunger 24. After placing spring 32 in passage 25, the plunger is inserted upwardly into the passage as end 30 of the spring is guided upwardly between spring 32 and the rear wall of passage 25. As soon as end 30 seats in notch 31, the

plunger may be pressed upwardly to its retracted position v where it is held by spring 28. The cover shell is then secured to the legs of the handle by screws 23 to complete the handle and cover shell sub-assembly. This subassembly is next lowered over the sole plate so as to seat on bosses 21 and stud screw 22 is put in place to firmly lock all the two sub-assemblies together. All that remains is to snap the thermostat dial 20 in place on the end of the regulator shaft 19.

Operation Normally the rest is collapsed within the confines of the iron where it is resiliently held by actuator spring 28 and spring 32. The iron can be maneuvered in any manner and can be lifted from the ironing board without danger of unlocking the rest mechanism. As soon as the operator stops ironing or desires to support the iron off the sole plate, it is merely necessary to press downwardly with the thumb or finger on the protruding end 34 of the rest. As this occurs, roller 27 forces the upper end of spring 32 laterally into the cavity provided therefor. At the same time, the snap action actuator spring 23 rotates about the pivot provided by notch 31 until end 29 of the spring passes below the neutral point represented by a horizontal plane passing through the center ofv notch 31. As soon as this occurs the spring is effective to lift the iron against its own weight to bring all portions of the s len ate Qut q contest with th irq ins ut aqe.

The iron will remain in this position until the user is ready to resume ironing. The rest mechanism then moves to its fully retracted position automatically as the operator grasps the operating handle 15 and depresses the iron onto the board in opposition to spring 28. As the lower end of rest 24 approaches the surface of the sole plate, spring 28 will be adjacent its neutral point. Moreover, the heel of curved end 33 of spring 32 will be slightly below the axis of roller 27 so that it is effective to underride the roller in a manner to lift the rest above its neutral point thereby positively lifting the rest out of contact, with the, ironing surface and intocontact with the curved end of passage 25.

Second embodiment The second embodiment illustrated in Figure 3 to 5 is generally similar to the first and for that reason the like or similar parts are designated by the same reference characters distinguished by a prime. It will be noted that the upper end of plunger 24' does not extend through the top surface of handle 15. Moreover, spring 32 together with its function is omitted. Notch or recess 31 will be seen to be quite wide vertically at the point where it opens laterally into passageway elongated lost motion slot 40 opening laterally through the right hand side of handle leg 17'. The stem 41 fora' control button 42 projects through slot 40 and its inner end is rigidly secured as by a'telescoping or suitable screw connection with end of actuator spring 28'. Otherwise, the construction is identical with that described above in connection with the first embodiment.

Operation of second embodiment To release the rest mechanism for movement to its extended position, the operator merely moves control button 42 upwardly in slot thereby shifting end 30' of the actuator spring to a point above its neutral position represented by end 29' of the spring. End 30' of; the spring then remains seated at the topof slot 40 so that spring 28' is effective to move the plunger 24 downwardly against the ironing board and thereafter elevate the iron to its inclined rest position. During the extension of the rest,.spring 28 pivots counter-clockwise from the position shown in Figure 3 to the position shown in Figure 5.

The operator may resume the use of the iron merely by pressing downwardly on handle 15' and pressing downwardly on control button 42 to shift end 30' of the spring to a point below the neutral position of the rest. The spring is then effective to elevate the plunger and roller 27 to its fully seated position against the upper end of passage 25.

From the foregoing it will be quite apparent that the principles of the present invention may be incorporated in various structural arrangements other than the two herein illustrated and described. While I have shown and described but two embodiments of my invention, his to be understood that these embodiments are to be taken as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense. I do not wish to be limited to the particular structure shown and described but to include all equivalent variations except as limited by the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A self-lifting smoothing iron comprising, a sole plate, a cover shell overlying and secured to said sole plate, a one piece operating handle having a front leg secured to said cover shell, a cavity formed in said front leg above said cover shell, an extensible and retractible supporting means for supporting said sole plate out of contact with an ironing surface, said supporting means including an elongated reciprocatable strut normally retracted within said cavity and extensible through an opening in said sole plate below said cavity, said openand to merge with ing and cavity forming a guideway for the reciprocation of said strut, a slot formed in the side wall of said front leg and extending from the exterior thereof into said cavity, and a control for said supporting means extending through said slot and being accessible for manipulation on the exterior of said front leg, said supporting means including a U-shaped spring actuator for said strut, one end of said spring being pivotally attached to said strut intermediate the ends thereof, the other end of said spring being connected to said control, the arrangement being such that movement of said control to one end of said slot moves said spring through a neutral position to one stable position in which said strut is retracted within said cavity with its lower end above the ironing surface of said sole plate and movement of said control to the other end of said slot moves said spring through its neutral position to another stable position wherein said strut is extended with its lower end positioned below the lower face of said sole plate whereby said sole plate is supported above an ironing surface.

2. A self-lifting smoothing iron comprising, a sole plate, a cover shell overlying and secured to said sole plate, a one piece operating handle secured to said cover shell and having a front leg, a cavity formed in said front leg and extending upwardly from said cover shell, an extensible and retractible supporting means for supporting said sole plate out of contact with an ironing surface, said supporting means including an elongated reciprocatable strut normally retracted within said cavity and extensible through an opening in said sole plate below said cavity, said cavity and opening forming a guide for reciprocation of said strut, said supporting means including a U-shaped torsion spring actuator for said strut, said spring having two sides each formed with two legs connected by a coil, one end of two of said legs being pivoted to said strut intermediate its ends, the ends of the other legs being connected by a cross piece integral therewith, the wall of said cavity below the pivotal point of said spring with said strut when the latter is in its retracted position being formed with an open recess facing said strut and cross piece for receiving said cross piece whereby said strut and spring are insertable into said cavity as a unit so that said cross piece will snap into said recess as said unit is inserted into said cavity and hold said unit in said cavity, the arrangement being such that movement of said strut downwardly from its retracted position will move said spring through a neutral position and project the lower end of said strut below the lower surface of the sole plate to support the latter above an ironing surface.

3. A smoothing iron according to claim 2 including means within said cavity for moving said strut upwardly through the neutral position of said spring actuator and into its stable retracted position within said cavity as said iron is returned to operation after having been supported out of contact with an ironing surface on said strut.

4. A smoothing iron according to claim 3 wherein the connection between said cross piece and said recess includes a lost motion connection to permit limited movement of said spring relative to said strut before movement is imparted to said strut.

5. A smoothing iron according to claim 4 in which said moving means includes a manually operable member accessible from the exterior of said front leg to move said cross piece relative to said strut and render said spring actuator effective to move said strut to either its retracted or extended positions.

6. A smoothing iron according to claim 2 including a roller carried by the upper end of said strut for rolling along the interior of said cavity and spring means within said cavity and underriding said roller as said strut approaches its retracted position and cooperating with said spring actuator in moving said strut upwardly beyond the neutral position of said spring actuator to raise the lower end of said strut above the lower surface of said sole plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

